


Calming Draught

by shadowstories



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Issues, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 11:02:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13293453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowstories/pseuds/shadowstories
Summary: reader is having nightmares and snape comforts them!!!





	Calming Draught

**Author's Note:**

> hey im just dumping this here, i wrote it like three months ago. i was cleaning out my google docs and figured why not upload it. i cant remember if i was going to continue it or not but feel free to give opinions or suggestions i am terrible at making up original content it comes like once in a million years

You woke up abruptly. It was pitch black in your room, probably about one or two a.m. Your hair clung to your forehead in sweat and you struggled to catch your breath. It looks like this would be yet another sleepless night. How could you keep up with this? Surely the students would notice sooner or later. And what if Dumbledore finds out? Would you have to take a leave of absence for your mental health? No, you couldn’t. You wouldn’t. Hogwarts is your home, you have nowhere else to go. Where you used to live wasn’t a home. It was a place of manipulation and humiliation, punches and curses. You reached blindly over to your bedside table, searching until you found your wand. Lumos you whispered, and a bright white light appeared at the tip of your wand, illuminating what was in front of you. With your breath still ragged, you climbed out from your bed and grabbed your robes. What you needed was fresh air. You quietly tiptoed through the halls until you reached the courtyard. It was snowing. The moon shone bright enough so you could see, making you turn off the light illuminating from your wand. You sat on the side of the building, just underneath the archway exit, and stared up at the sky. You watched the show as it fell in tiny flakes, and you admired the stars. It was quiet and peaceful and you envied it. You wished to live a life as quiet and peaceful as the world around you right now. You watched your hot breath leave your mouth as you sighed, and leaned your head against the cold stone of the building. You were so engrossed in the beauty of the night that you did not hear footsteps approaching you. You jumped when you heard a deep voice from behind.  
“You’ll catch your death out here.” A familiar voice said. You turned your head, just enough to barely make out the long hair and eccentric black robes of Severus Snape. You turned your head back to look across the courtyard. You were too tired to respond, and that caused him to huff in annoyance and take a seat next to you.  
“Look at me,” he said in a demanding, but caring voice. You knew he cared, but he spent so many years trying to ward people off that he didn’t know how to show it. Maybe he still didn’t want to. You turned to look at him, so his eyes could roam over your face. He inspected the deep bags under your eyes, and listened to the sharp breaths you were taking. Severus had known something was up with you from the start, but every time he came close to asking you what was wrong, you would make up an excuse to leave. That was something you were good at, making up excuses. Lying. Occlumency and Legilimency. You’d been taught from a very young age.  
You were pulled from your thoughts by the professor snapping his fingers in front of your face, attempting to regain your attention. He moved his face closer in order to get you to keep eye contact with you.  
“What is affecting you, (Y/N)? I’ve noticed your behavior change, about a week ago.” He said. There was a pause, but then he spoke again, much softer this time. “Tell me. I can help”. You looked at the man in front of you, and watched his facade fall into the caring man he his. Only you have seen this side of Severus. Only you knew he wasn’t as threatening as he appeared. And he had only seen certain sides of you. Like right now, for example.  
Severus knows, about your childhood. About your mother being overcome by dark magic. About her wanting you to follow in her footsteps, and the pain you endured throughout your years living with her. You were her practice dummy, you were her forced apprentice, you were not a daughter to her. Severus’s legilimency was stronger than your occlumency, and your mind’s eye could not hold out for long. He caught you when your mind’s eye was open, and he was able to read you like you were a book. He helped you strengthen your skills after that, and you were able to keep the dark thoughts of your past and present away from the curiosities of others. Severus never pestered you about it, and you were very grateful. When he offered to assist you in strengthening your occlumency, you knew what he had possibly seen. You didn’t ask, and neither did he. It was an unspoken secret between the two of you. You looked up at Severus, whose brows were furrowed in curiosity and worry. The memories of the nightmares you have been experiencing for the past week in a row came flooding back. They felt as real as what you experienced in your home. Tears welled up in your eyes, but you looked away. He would think you pathetic for getting worked up over a dream, wouldn’t he? You began to shake. You put your head on your folded knees and grasped your hair tightly. Your arms bent, successfully hiding the sides of your face. You felt a warm layer of fabric fall over your shoulders, and one arm comes across your back, while the other grabbed underneath your knees, picking you up. You opened your eyes slightly. Severus had draped his cloak over your shoulders and he was ushering you back through the dark halls of the school. You didn’t realize how cold you had been getting out there until now. You brought the cloak closer to you, in fear it would fall to the ground, and pressed your face into the man’s shoulder. His shirt began to soak up the tears that were now falling heavily. You entered a well-lit room and were placed on a couch. You looked around and recognized it as Snape’s living quarters. You’d only been here a couple times before when you were in desperate need of some pepperup potion early in the morning. You felt the softness of the couch underneath your fingertips, and the warmth of the lit fireplace on your face. You inched closer to the heat source. You could hear Severus ushering around the room behind you, but you didn’t bother to turn around. Soon the noises of him opening and shuffling through cupboard stopped and he appeared at your side, holding a small vile in front of you. It was filled with a light blue, almost fluorescent, liquid. You reached out and gently took it from his hand, reading the carefully written label. Calming Draught. You pulled the cork out of the top and brought the bottle up to your chapped lips, downing the potion in about two sips. You felt a warmth slowly come over you, and it felt like you were being covered in a warm and heavy blanket. Your breathing slowed and your body stopped shaking. Severus held out his hand to help you up off the couch, but neither of you let go once you were up. The calming draught would be in full effect soon, and you were to have a calm sleep ahead of you. He lead you back to your living quarters, making sure you would not collapse into a deep sleep on your way there. Once you were near your bed, he let go of your hand. The warmth of his hand in your was gone and your palm was immediately hit by the cold air of your living quarters. You sighed, climbing into your four-poster bed. Severus placed another small vile of calming draught on your bedside table, in case you were to need it another night, and turned to leave. Before he could make it towards the door, your hand reached out and lightly grabbed his wrist. Due to your body overcome with sleepiness, you could barely hold on. You looked up at the man whom you’ve admired for some time now. His eyes were soft as they looked down at you. You whispered.  
“Will you stay?”  
Severus was stumped by your request at first, but nodded his head just barely. You let go of his wrist and moved over to the other side of the bed. The man rung his hands nervously before kicking off his shoes and laying on top of the sheeps. You looked over at Severus, who was staring blankly at the wall across the room from the two of you. You inched closer to him, and without looking at you he brought his arm around your shoulders. You reveled in the warmth you felt in your heart and the butterflies you felt in your stomach. You hoped he felt the same. You hesitantly laid your head on his chest, expecting him to inch away. But he didn’t. His grip on your shoulders tightened a bit. It was reassuring. Just before you were overcome with sleep, you felt Severus shift underneath you, and plant a chaste kiss on the top of your head. You smiled lightly, hoping he would notice, before drifting off.


End file.
